Collaborations That Work: Making Connections between Music Library Instruction and Music Theory

abstract: This article explores ways pedagogical approaches in music librarianship and music theory can enhance each other. It emphasizes two broad benefits for students when library instruction is incorporated into music theory courses. First, what music librarians have to offer can be incredibly relevant to music theory instruction. Second, since music majors take music theory early in their degrees, library instruction in these courses allows them to get to know their librarians right away when they enter college. If music librarians provide further instruction and outreach in various ways throughout students' college years, students will be able to see that what they are learning in these sessions is a set of transferrable skills that are not solely useful for one assignment in a single class. This is especially true when teaching information literacy. By drawing on literature from both fields, as well as our own experiences working together, we show how the pedagogical priorities of music theory and music librarianship align. We explain how we have found success in teaching concepts from information literacy as we work toward our shared goals. The article further suggests a number of practical ideas for bridging the gap between music librarians and music theory instructors, including offering flexible options for instruction, team-teaching, and understanding the strengths each person brings to information literacy instruction.